UM Motorcycles to restart India operations by Diwali - Report
UM Motorcycles and Lohia Auto are undergoing a restructuring exercise, and the sales should resume during the festive season this year, reports Moneycontrol. The source report suggests that the restructuring exercise was the reason behind no sales since April this year.
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It was earlier rumoured that UM will relaunch its products under the “UM+” branding in the Indian market by September this year. However, Ayush Lohia, CEO, Lohia Auto, denied the rumours in the latest interview. Speaking about the partnership with UM Motorcycles, Ayush Lohia said:
The JV company with UM Motorcycles is under restructuring. There have been rumours in the media about a split (between the partners) but nothing of that sort is happening. The company and the organisation are under restructuring. We will be sharing a report soon which will be an official statement.
Elaborating about the possible timeline to restart the sales, Lohia added:
As sales are not happening and it’s a challenge for the dealers to sustain themselves. We will clear the air on the same and we will be launching products soon. We are contemplating that by Diwali we should restart sales.
The motorcycles did not receive the safety net of ABS before the company stopped the sales. We would see ABS-equipped models arrive when the company resumes operations. Apart from the existing products, we may see new UM bikes arrive in our market.
Last month, we saw spy photographs of two new UM products. The two products were seen in two configurations – on-road and off-road. The upcoming bikes would most likely compete against the Hero MotoCorp’s XPulse duo. To give you a recap, the road-biased UM vehicle in the spy photographs was equipped with 17-inch alloy wheels on both ends while the off-road spec variant featured wire-spoke units. The latter also used a larger front wheel.
The company is also likely to introduce scooters in our market. A report from December last year claimed that UM would introduce the Chill 150 ABS in India. The 150 cc retro-style scooter, if launched, will compete with the likes of Aprilia SR150 and the Vespa 150 in our market.
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As told by Ayush Lohia, UM Motorcycles and Lohia Auto would soon make an announcement about their plans for the Indian market and the timeline to resume operations.
[Source: Moneycontrol.com]